Adam Criblez's Books

Tall Tales and Short Shorts

Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA

By: Adam J. Criblez

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Tall Tales and Short Shorts

Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA

By: Adam J. Criblez

In basketball, just as in American culture, the 1970s were imperfect. But it was a vitally important time in the development of the nation and of the National Basketball Association. During this decade Americans suffered through the war in Vietnam and Nixon’s Watergate cover-up (not to mention disco music and leisure suits) while the NBA weathered the arrival of free agency and charges that its players were “too black.” Despite this turmoil, or perhaps because of it, the NBA evolved into a cultural phenomenon. Tall Tales and Short Shorts: Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA traces the evolution of the NBA from the retirement of Bill Russell in 1969 to the arrival of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson ten years later. Sandwiched between the youthful league of the sixties and its mature successor in the eighties, this book reveals the awkward teenage years of the NBA in the seventies. It examines the many controversies that plagued the league during this time, including illicit drug use, on-court violence, and escalating player salaries. Yet even as attendance dwindled and networks relegated playoff games to tape-delayed, late-night broadcasts, fans still pulled on floppy gray socks like “Pistol Pete” Maravich, emulated Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s sweeping skyhook, and grew out mushrooming afros à la “Dr. J” Julius Erving. The first book-length treatment of pro basketball in the 1970s, Tall Tales and Short Shorts brings to life the players, teams, and the league as a whole as they dealt with expansion, a merger with the ABA, and transitioning into a new era. Sport historians and basketball fans will enjoy this entertaining and enlightening survey of an often-overlooked time in the development of the NBA.

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Page Count

325

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield

Published Date

ISBN 10

1442277688

ISBN 13

9781442277687

Parading Patriotism

Independence Day Celebrations in the Urban Midwest, 1826–1876

By: Adam J. Criblez

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Parading Patriotism

Independence Day Celebrations in the Urban Midwest, 1826–1876

By: Adam J. Criblez

Parading Patriotism covers a critical fifty-year period in the nineteenth-century when the American nation was starting to expand and cities across the Midwest were experiencing rapid urbanization and industrialization. Historian Adam Criblez offers a unique and fascinating study of five midwestern cities—Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Indianapolis—and how celebrations of the Fourth of July in each of them formed a microcosm for the country as a whole in defining and establishing patriotic nationalism and new conceptions of what it was like to be an American. Criblez exposes a rich tapestry of mid-century midwestern social and political life by focusing on the nationalistic rites of Independence Day. He shows how the celebratory façade often masked deep-seated tensions involving such things as race, ethnicity, social class, political party, religion, and even gender. Urban celebrations in these cities often turned violent, with incidents marked by ethnic conflict, racial turmoil, and excessive drunkenness. The celebration of Independence Day became an important political, cultural, and religious ritual on social calendars throughout this time period, and Criblez illustrates how the Midwest adapted cultural developments from outside the region—brought by European immigrants and westward migrants from eastern states like New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts. The concepts of American homegrown nationalism were forged in the five highlighted midwestern cities, as the new country came to terms with its own independence and how historical memory and elements of zealous and belligerent patriotism came together to construct a new and unique national identity. This ground-breaking book draws on both unpublished sources (including diaries, manuscript collections, and journals) and copious but under-utilized print resources from the region (newspapers, periodicals, travelogues, and pamphlets) to uncover the roots of how the Fourth of July holiday is celebrated today. Criblez's insightful book shows how political independence and republican government was promoted through rituals and ceremonies that were forged in the wake of this historical moment.

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Page Count

199

Publisher

Cornell University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1609090888

ISBN 13

9781609090883

Kings of the Garden

The New York Knicks and Their City

By: Adam J. Criblez

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Kings of the Garden

The New York Knicks and Their City

By: Adam J. Criblez

In Kings of the Garden, Adam J. Criblez traces the fall and rise of the New York Knicks between the 1973, the year they won their last NBA championship, and 1985, when the organization drafted Patrick Ewing and gave their fans hope after a decade of frustrations. During these years, the teams led by Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe, Bob McAdoo, Spencer Haywood, and Bernard King never achieved tremendous on-court success, and their struggles mirrored those facing New York City over the same span. In the mid-seventies, as the Knicks lost more games than they won and played before smaller and smaller crowds, the city they represented was on the brink of bankruptcy, while urban disinvestment, growing income inequality, and street gangs created a feeling of urban despair. Kings of the Garden details how the Knicks' fortunes and those of New York City were inextricably linked. As the team's Black superstars enjoyed national fame, Black musicians, DJs, and B-boys in the South Bronx were creating a new culture expression—hip-hop—that like the NBA would become a global phenomenon. Criblez's fascinating account of the era shows that even though the team's efforts to build a dynasty ultimately failed, the Knicks, like the city they played in, scrappily and spectacularly symbolized all that was right—and wrong—with the NBA and the nation during this turbulent, creative, and momentous time.

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Page Count

222

Publisher

Cornell University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1501774468

ISBN 13

9781501774461

Parading Patriotism

Independence Day Celebrations in the Urban Midwest, 1826–1876

By: Adam J. Criblez

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Parading Patriotism

Independence Day Celebrations in the Urban Midwest, 1826–1876

By: Adam J. Criblez

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199

Publisher

Cornell University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1609090888

ISBN 13

9781609090883

Tall Tales and Short Shorts

Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA

By: Adam J. Criblez

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Tall Tales and Short Shorts

Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA

By: Adam J. Criblez

This book traces the evolution of the NBA in the 1970s, from the retirement of Bill Russell in 1969 to the arrival of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson ten years later. It features such iconic players as Dr. J and Pistol Pete and examines the controversies that plagued the league, including illicit drug use and on-court violence.

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Page Count

288

Publisher

Sports Icons and Issues in Pop

Published Date

ISBN 10

144227767X

ISBN 13

9781442277670

Book's by Adam Criblez

Tall Tales and Short Shorts

Tall Tales and Short Shorts

Parading Patriotism

Parading Patriotism

Kings of the Garden

Kings of the Garden

Parading Patriotism

Parading Patriotism

Tall Tales and Short Shorts

Tall Tales and Short Shorts

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